


waves, crashing on the shore

by GalaxyOwl



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-04-25 04:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14371263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyOwl/pseuds/GalaxyOwl
Summary: Aria Joie is an adventurer from Velas with an uncanny talent with music. Mako Trig was one of the last students to attend the great magical University. AuDy is a pala-din come inexplicably to life. And Cass—Well, Cass has some things that they'd rather keep to themself.





	1. AuDy

**Author's Note:**

> i normally take this as assumed but since this fic is.... what it is, it's probably worth mentioning that this contains spoilers for both c/w and hieron. consider yourself warned.

The first thing AuDy remembers is the grinding creak of the huge door opening, light pooling into the room, illuminating the rows and rows of stone pala-din. (They don’t know where they learned that word; they just know it, the same way they know the words for _door_ and _light_ and their own name).

Then a voice saying, “See? I told you it would work,” and three figures, illuminated in the doorway as they enter.

“Yes, Mako,” says another of them, as she takes a step forward, her gaze sliding across the ranks of pala-din. “We know.”

“I’m just saying.” Mako runs a hand along the marble side of one the pala-din. “You guys were all, ‘Oh, it’s a creepy ancient tower, Mako, there’s no way your normal unlocking spell will work, Mako,’ but it—“

AuDy steps forward.

In an instant, all three of the newcomers are facing them, one with her sword drawn, the other still fumbling for theirs, the third—Mako—drawing no visible weapon, but something in his posture conveying an alert readiness nonetheless.

The three newcomers’ breathing is the only sound in the silent room.

“You guys saw that, right?” The third one, who hadn’t spoken yet. They grip their weapon now, all clumsiness with it vanished. Beside them, the woman glances around at the other pala-din. None of them move.

“We should go,” she says, lowering her voice and taking a step away from AuDy. “This could be… I don’t know what this could be.”

“I’m sure it’s _fine_ , Aria,” Mako says. “We don’t actually have any reason to think these things are dangerous. They’re probably just… weird statues. Hey, weird statue person, are you dangerous?”

“I’m not sure,” AuDy says. “But I don’t currently have any reason to wish to harm you.”

A sharp intake of breath from Aria; even Mako flinches back in surprise.

AuDy tilts their head. “I apologize for startling you,” they say. “It was not my intention.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” Mako says. He gives the others a pointed look. “Isn’t it, guys?”

“Right,” Aria says. She takes a deep breath. Turns to address AuDy. “Sorry, but… What is this place?”

AuDy thinks for a moment. “I don’t know.”

Mako laughs. After a moment, when AuDy doesn’t say anything more, he continues, “I guess as long as you _aren’t_ going to attack us, we can probably still call this situation a win.”

***

Aria, Mako, and Cass—the third one’s name is Cass—were sent here by the officials of some small town not too far from here. _Here_ is an island, a tower, a mystery, and this room where AuDy and the other pala-din were stored is only a tiny part of a world that suddenly seems enormous.

AuDy explores the tower with them, and the secrets at its top, and afterwards, awkward and uncertain, Aria asks if they’d like to join them on the ride back to the mainland. AuDy sees no reason not to.

They leave the rest of the pala-din, empty and lifeless, behind, and close the door on them. It is not a decision that is reached without debate.

***

It’s a day or so’s sailing back to Velas, on the mainland, and AuDy spends most of the hours standing by the rail, taking it all in. The ocean around them is vast and alive with motion, waves surging against the side of the ship and sending up spray that spatters against AuDy’s granite form.

The crew give them looks—they’re scared of AuDy, probably, or at least confused by them. But AuDy doesn’t especially care. They stare back, sometimes, watches the crew at work; they think they could do well on a ship. Thinks they like the idea of the control, of the forward movement.

“Hey,” says a voice, and AuDy turns to see Cass, looking at them—not the nervous look the sailors give them, but a thoughtful one, their gaze intent.

“Hello,” AuDy says, since that seems to be what is expected.

Cass leans on the rail, looks out over the waves. After a moment’s quiet, they say, “Are you planning on staying in Velas, when we get there?”

Are they planning on staying in Velas? They hadn’t really thought about it. Hadn’t really thought beyond the confines of this ship.

“Are you?” they say, instead of answering.

Cass laughs. “No. I’m the ship’s doctor; I’ll go with it when it leaves. Mako and Aria are the only ones who are from Velas.” They pause. “For a relative value of ‘from,’ I suppose.”

Silence (or, at least, no sound but the normal noise of shipboard life; of the ocean, all around them).

What does AuDy want to do when they get to Velas? What does AuDy _want_? A day ago they wouldn’t have thought that—well. They wouldn’t have _thought_ , is the point. They’d like to understand that, maybe.

“Do you think there is anyone in town who knows more about that tower?”

“Uh,” Cass says. “Probably not.” There is a long pause. Cass looks away from AuDy, out to sea. “I mean, you could try the archivists’outpost, maybe? That’s the only person I can think of to go to for that kind of… history knowledge.”

AuDy doesn’t respond. They’ll keep the idea in mind.

Soon after, Cass walks away and leaves them alone.

***

(Cene Sixheart, when AuDy does meet them, doesn’t have answers. They have stories, though: of stone soldiers in a city many thousand years dead; of a pair of gods—no, one god, no, a pair—who built a tower, once, maybe, but whose followers whisper has stopped answering their prayers.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if it isn't already obvious, this fic is going to be multi-chapter more for structural reasons than length reasons. next chapter should be up, soon? maybe tomorrow?


	2. Aria

Aria and Cass circle, swords drawn, the steps easy and familiar. The deck of the ship shifts slightly underfoot as it moves through the water. Aria catches herself a split-second away from losing her footing and whirls on Cass; their blades meet with the sharp sound of metal on metal.

It’s moving towards evening, the sun low on the horizon, the ship’s sails billowing out in the wind, and Cass finally has enough time away from their shipboard duties to spar with Aria. It’s become something of a habit, between the two of them; not something they talk about much, outside the event itself, but just an easy ritual, a way to let off steam after a day’s excitement.

Mako and AuDy are belowdecks right now, Aria’s pretty sure, although with the latter it can be hard to guess. It’s funny: it’s only been a month or so since AuDy joined their little party, but already she’s begun to think of things that way, to think of them in the same breath as Mako and Cass. (When, a few days ago, they’d been charged with trying to find this other tower, there had been no question of whether they’d come on this trip. It was a given.)

Aria lunges forward with her sword; Cass blocks. They exchange a few more blows, a back-and-forth, and then as Aria moves to attack again she realizes Cass isn’t paying attention.

Their gaze is fixed on a point on the horizon, and as Aria follows it she recognizes the shape of another ship, distant but getting closer.

“It’s probably nothing,” she says, watching Cass’ face.

“Yeah,” they say. They don’t sound convinced. They don’t take their eyes off the ship.

“Ordenna, maybe?” Aria suggests. “Or just another crew from the mainland. We’re not that far out yet.”

“It could be pirates,” Cass says.

Aria raises an eyebrow. It’s not a thought that would have occurred to her. She looks back out at the approaching boat, trying to spot any telltale signs of—well, of what, she isn’t really sure. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen a pirate ship before, not outside of paintings. She wouldn’t know what one looks like if she saw it.

“There’s no reason to assume the worst?” she says. There’s still a real chance it isn’t anything to worry about.

Cass takes a deep breath. “No,” they say, “I’m pretty sure of it now. I recognize that ship.”

“You—wait,” Aria says.

“That’s the _Kingdom Come._ ” Their voice is low. Cass shakes their head, finally taking their eyes off the approaching ship, and starts moving, towards the bow. “We have to turn around.”

Aria runs after them, as they shout up to the sailors in the rigging. But there isn’t much that can be done. The other ship is fast, and they’ve definitely spotted them now. All Cass and Aria can do is prepare the others and watch as the _Kingdom Come_ (it’s a good name, she thinks, distantly) gains on them.

Aria’s hand is on her sword, at her waist, but its as she’s reaching for it that it occurs to her that there’s something else she should try first.

For as long as she can remember, Aria has had this… talent, maybe, is the word for it? She stumbled into it accidentally, once, singing a folk song under her breath as she walked through the town. The winds shifted with her tune, ever-so-slightly, the pattern of the world bending ever-so-slightly at a few well-placed notes, a simple tune, a couple seconds of just the right pitch. Over the years, she taught herself the way of it, through trail and error and unguided intuition.

(Aria isn’t an orc; she doesn’t know the term “pattern magic.” But she doesn’t need to.) Whatever this power is, it’s hers, and it works, and so as the pirate ship approaches, Aria hums a strand of song under her breath, and the wind in their sails picks up ever so slightly.

It’s not enough.

The pirates, when they board, are not what Aria was expecting.

Many of them are dead.

Seeing them moving is something uncanny, something out of a dream. This should not be possible, but then, one of Aria’s closest friends is a person made out of stone, so who is she to judge?

They fight. Aria is quick on her feet and good with a sword, and she continues her humming the whole time, and she feels the energy of its magic race through her, sends it rushing out towards Mako and AuDy and Cass. She hums, and she whispers snatches of lyrics under her breath, songs of her own writing.

Aria fights her way to the bow of the ship, and then suddenly she locks swords with one of the pirates, locks eyes with one of the pirates, an undead woman with huge arms and bright green hair and a grin. There’s something in her eyes that almost gives Aria pause, just long enough for the pirate to gain the upper hand, and then she’s on the defensive, still fighting, still singing, and she feels alive and vibrant and—

And then one of the other pirates shouts, “We’ve got them!” and Aria sees, out of the corner of her eye, a man with his sword to Cass’ throat.

“Be careful!” the woman Aria’s fighting shouts, and the man nods, and she turns and meets Aria’s gaze again. “This doesn’t have to be hard,” she says.

“What?” Aria takes an instinctive step back.

“Give us this one—“ She gestures towards Cass. “And you can be on your way.”

It doesn’t make sense. Except it does, doesn’t it? Except Cass recognized this ship, somehow. There’s a history here, something Aria’s missing.

It doesn’t matter, of course. She’s not letting them take Cass. “I don’t think so.”

The pirate gives an exaggerated sigh that sounds like she’s anything but sorry to hear this response. She turns her sword on Aria again, and they’re back into the rhythm of it, blades clashing and clanging.

Aria tries her best to work her way towards Cass as she fights. She doesn’t know where any of the others have disappeared to the fray, can only hope that they’re all right. She makes progress towards where the pirate was holding Cass, can only hope they haven’t moved, but it’s one step back for every two steps forward, and this woman is not going to let her go easily.

And then Aria steps back to take a breath, and when she looks up again, the fighting mass of pirates are retreating, moving back towards their own ship, and for a moment she dares to think this means they’ve won.

In the wake of the battle, Cass is nowhere to be seen.

***

Hours later, without intending it, Aria finds herself alone in a city of the living dead.

She didn’t mean to get separated from the others, but Mako went chasing after something or other and AuDy was worried about leaving the ship unattended, and now Aria’s here, wandering the streets, alone.

Lost, if she’s being honest.

She needs to figure out where Cass is. That was the whole point; that’s why they followed the pirate ship all the way here, why they risked coming ashore. But she doesn’t know where to even begin trying to do that. It’s not as if she can walk up to some stranger on the street and ask where they keep prisoners. Even if there was a single answer, drawing that kind of attention…

A flash of green in the corner of her eye grabs Aria’s attention. She glances over, and—yes. It’s that pirate, all muscle and fire and a grin that makes Aria’s heart do flips. Aria averts her gaze, tries to keep moving. If she recognizes her, she’s done for.

“Hey!”

So much for that.

Aria takes a deep breath, and turns to face her.

The pirate is on her in an instant, sword drawn, and Aria reaches for her own blade just in time to parry a blow. They’re in public, in the street, drawing exactly the kind of attention she’d been trying to avoid, but its easy to fall into the same rhythm they’d developed, back on the ship.

“You shouldn’t have come here.”

Aria doesn’t answer, keeps herself focused on the fight. It’s a fight, but it’s also a dance, one they both somehow know all the steps to. Aria can’t seem to get ahead of her opponent, no matter how hard she tries. Fighting her… It isn’t like any fight Aria’s been it. It isn’t like training with Cass, either; this is real, and terrifying, and there’s a terrible part of Aria that wants it to never end.

The pirate blocks another blow, and Aria digs her feet into the ground and puts her weight into it, pressing against her sword; if tactics won’t work, then maybe—

The pirate takes a single step back, and Aria goes stumbling—stupid, stupid—and then she’s on the ground, looking up at the woman’s grin.

The pirate has her sword pointed at Aria, now, at her throat. She’s won. She isn’t going for it, though, isn’t moving to kill her. Isn’t moving to let her go, either, but for a split-second Aria lets herself imagine a flicker of hesitation in her face.

Aria has to do something, though, if she wants to make it out of this alive.

She’s been beaten, and there’s a sharp pain in her shoulder where the sword cut her, and she opens her mouth—for a song, maybe, she thinks, like maybe some last piece of her magic can save her—and she looks up at the woman’s face and what comes out of her mouth is, “Can I buy you a drink?”


	3. Mako

Mako stops, breathing heavily. They’re safe now, or something close to—he’s not sure he’ll really be able to feel safe until they’ve put several miles between themselves and this fucked-up city. But they’re relatively safe, here in this back alley. No more pirates chasing them.

Well, except for the one, although to be fair to her she isn’t _chasing_ so much as she’s walking with them as if she hadn’t been one of the ones trying to kill them less than a day ago. She’s standing close to Aria as the group of them come to a stop—Aria, who’s staring down at her hand, still bloodied from where she’d been cut during the fight just now.

Okay. Okay. They’re all still alive, and that’s great, but Mako has no idea what they’re going to do now. They’re still stuck here.

“You alright?” Jacqui—who had, hilariously, taken the time to give her name amongst all the chaos—says softly, and Aria flinches, looks up.

“I’m fine.” She meets eyes with Mako, watching her, and lets out an exasperated scoff. “Really.”

“That is good,” AuDy says. And then, a moment later, “Are we any closer to discovering where they are holding Cass?”

Jacqui looks over at AuDy, stares at them a moment. “You... you mean Prince Cassander?”

Now the three of them stare at her. (Well, Mako and Aria stare. It’s hard to tell sometimes with AuDy.)

“What?” Mako says.

“Cassander,” Jacqui repeats, “the person we captured from your ship. I assumed that’s who you guys are here after?”

“Yeah,” Mako says. “Go back to the ‘prince’ part for a second.”

“The… You’re telling me you didn’t know?” Jacqui laughs. When no one responds, she says, slowly, “Cassander Timaeus Berenice? The scion of pearls, the youngest heir, the reluctant, the abetter, the missing—”

“No,” Aria cuts in. “We didn’t know.”

A bit of an understatement, really.

It makes more sense than it should, though, doesn’t it? Cass, their Cass, who criticizes Mako’s plans, who patches him up when they go poorly—

Cass never talked much about their past. Mako hadn’t pushed. He’d definitely gotten the sense before that family was a touchy subject (and hell, he could understand that). But he’d never expected… This.

“Sure,” he says aloud, “why not? Today’s already been weird as all hell.”

Aria snorts.

“You guys don’t know _anything_ ,” Jacqui says, her tone only halfway to making it a question.

“We know some things,” Mako says.

“Ignore him.” AuDy says. (Which: rude.) “On this subject, we know nothing.”

“Huh,” Jacqui says. Then, “You really should leave before nightfall,” said without much conviction.

“Jacqui,” Aria says, laying her uninjured hand on Jacqui’s arm, “what else can you tell us?”

So Jacqui tells them.

If Mako’s being honest, afterwards, he’s still not sure he entirely believes it. Something about Cass murdering their parent and running away. And yeah, okay, Mako can buy the idea that Cass has been on the run for as long as Mako’s known them. But they’re not… They wouldn’t do _that_ , right? Not the way that Jacqui’s talking about it?

Fuck it. Mako will ask them himself when he sees them again.

He will see them again.

“Okay,” he says aloud. “Cool. Great. Where are they, and how can we get to them?”

Jacqui blinks. “What?”

“You said we need to leave by nightfall, right? The sooner we get Cass the sooner we can get going.”

“I suppose…” Jacqui says. She’s still looking at Aria.

“Do you have a plan in mind?” AuDy says.

“I’ll figure something out,” Mako says.

“The last time you ‘figured something out,’” AuDy says, “you ended up buying twenty warships.”

“Hey, I got us in, didn’t I?”

“That is not the point.”

Aria turns to Jacqui. “Do you know where—“ She hesitates before finishing the sentence. “Do you know where they’re being kept?”

***

Magic is a very useful thing to have when trying to break in somewhere. Especially invisibility magic.

So Mako is going in alone. He managed to get in the door without too much trouble, and now he just has to find the right hallway to get to the place where Jacqui said Cass would probably be. (Cassander. Fuck, but that’s still weird to think about.)

Jacqui had given him a pretty firm idea of where to go. AuDy, on the other hand, had expressed doubt in this particular plan, but Aria had just shrugged and agreed it was the best idea they had.

There’s a guard up ahead, at the end of the hall, and Mako slows his pace. He needs to be quiet.

He wants to think that these people would have no reason to suspect that there’s someone trying to break in while invisible, but they do live in a city with ghosts. No knowing what they might be trained for. He’s probably fine, though. Ghosts or no, this is still orders of magnitude easier than it was back at the University, where the teachers were used to trying to catch teenage mages sneaking off, with all the magical assistance that implied. (They hadn’t caught him, though, not when it counted.)

Mako moves down the hallway, eyes on the guard—what are they guarding? He must be getting close now, right? Just this next turn, if he’s remembering Jacqui’s instructions right. And if Jacqui is really as trustworthy as she seems.

Mako steps forward, starts to turn the corner, and freezes at the sound of approaching footsteps.

A figure appears around the bend, dressed in finery and pearls, and there’s the tiniest fraction of a second where he thinks it’s Cass.

It’s not, but the resemblance is there—in the shape of their face, in the glint of curiosity in their eye as they stop and look straight at him.

(This is their sibling, Mako realizes, the face slotting into the story Jacqui had told them. The Apokine, the Empress of Pearls, about a hundred other titles that Mako can’t be bothered to remember. Euanthe.)

“Well, hello there,” they say. Still looking right at Mako, despite the fact that he’s supposed to be invisible.

He drops the spell. He’s sure to look very annoyed about it, though. “Hello.”

The guard startles back in surprise, though only for a moment.

Euanthe smiles. “I was wondering where you were. We found your companions not long ago.”

A knot settles itself in Mako’s stomach. He forces himself to sound casual as he says, “Oh?”

“Yes. Shall we show you to them?”

This is not going according to plan.

***

It turns out that not very long after Mako had left them, Aria and AuDy’s luck had run out. They’d been caught, and brought before the Apokine, who had just finished speaking with them when they’d found Mako.

(Mako still doesn’t understand how that had happened, really. The only person who’d ever been able to see through his invisibility before was AuDy.)

The Apokine, who is… letting them walk? Who is perfectly content to give them the run of the place, insists they aren’t prisoners, but also doesn’t seem particularly keen on them just getting back on their ship and leaving.

The important part for the moment, though, is that they’re letting them see Cass.

(“Of course, you can’t take them out of here,” they explain. “I’m sure you understand. I’m not happy about it, but there are rules about these things. They committed a serious crime, and if they won’t agree to repent, then… They’ll have to face the punishment.”

“The punishment?” Mako says, because the vagueness of that wording is extremely concerning.

Euanthe blinks. “Well, yes. The penalty for murder in Nacre is death.”)

So now he’s here. Aria and AuDy back by his side (Jacqui’s whereabouts currently unknown), Cass only a few feet away from them. Just past this door.

Mako takes a breath and pushes it open.

And there’s Cass. They get to their feet as the door swings open, their eyes widening.

There’s a moment of silence, as Mako, Aria, and AuDy look at Cass, as Cass looks at them.

Cass makes sense in this context, Mako thinks, and he hates it. Hates how much all of this bullshit has put the final piece into place in the puzzle that was Cass. Hates that he doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know whether the person in front of him is still the person he knows. They’re only a few feet away from him but right now that distance may as well be miles.

“What are you doing here?” Cass says. At least someone’s breaking the silence.

“We came to rescue you,” Mako says.

Cass lifts an eyebrow, glancing towards the guard still standing just outside the door.

“I didn’t say it went _well_.”

A smile tugs at the edge of Cass’ mouth, and—okay. Maybe this is going to be okay. Or, it won’t, because they’re still all stuck here, and Cass is literally on death row, but also… Maybe.

“Are you okay?” Aria asks.

Cass sighs. “I’m fine,” they say. “For now.”

“Is—“ Mako already knows the answer, but he has to ask anyways. “Is all that stuff true, then?”

They blink. “What stuff?”

“That you’re, like… the lost prince of this magical seafaring empire of the undead.”

“Yes,” they say slowly. “More or less, yes.”

“Were you ever going to tell us?”

They hesitate a moment, not meeting Mako’s gaze. “Honestly, I’m not sure,” they say. “Maybe.”

Aria takes a breath. “Okay,” she says.

“Did you really kill your parent?” Mako asks, louder than intended. He has to know.

Cass winces. “It was more complicated than that.”

“That is not a no,” AuDy says.

Cass scoffs. “No,” they say. “No, I didn’t kill them. I just…” They run a hand through their hair. “It’s…”

“Okay,” Mako says.

He was right. That’s what matters. Cass isn’t a murderer.


	4. (bridge)

Later.

The cell door swings open again. This time, Aria enters alone.

“Hey,” Cass says, looking up.

“Hey,” she says. She steps closer.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to rescue you,” Aria says. Half-joking.

Silence; hesitation.

“They’re not going to just let me walk out of here,” Cass says.

“I know.”

Another moment of hesitation.

She tosses them a sword. They bend down to pick it up, then look back up at her as they say, “You really think we can fight our way out?”

Aria is silent a long moment. “No,” she says. “Probably not.”

“Then why…?”

“Let’s practice,” she says, brandishing her own sword. “Like the old days.”

“You mean, yesterday?”

Aria doesn’t have it in her to laugh. “Yeah,” she says.

Cass grips their blade. After a moment, they nod.

Aria and Cass circle, swords drawn, the steps easy and familiar.They spar in silence, for a while, the only sound the clang of metal on metal, the scuffle of footsteps on the polished palace floor.

Finally, mid-movement, Aria says, “I met your parent.”

Cass flinches. She gets a blow in past their defenses, doesn’t really hit. They’re only practicing, after all. “What?”

“Earlier.” She blocks their next attack. “I…” A shaky breath. “They asked me to do something.”

She lunges again and Cass parries it, feints left and catches her on the wrist, a light scratch. Aria bites her lip and doesn’t say anything, doesn’t give herself time to react before spinning around on Cass again.

“What was it?” Cass says, their voice tight.

They fumble.

And then, Aria’s sword is at their throat. And for just an instant, she holds it there.

(If this was a normal sparring match, this would be the end. She’d have won. She would sheath her sword and call it a day.

Aria doesn’t understand Nacre, or the Pelagios family, doesn’t understand how she _died_ earlier today and came back to life, and it terrifies her. And if she does this thing then maybe, just maybe she gets a little bit safer.)

Cass meets her gaze.

Aria steps back. Stumbles, really, her hands shaking so hard she almost drops the sword.

“Fuck,” she mumbles. “Cass, I—I wasn’t going to…”

Cass takes a breath. She watches them, silent.

“Yeah,” they say, finally. “Yeah, okay.”

Another breath.

“So how are we getting out of here?”

Aria doesn’t meet their gaze. “I don’t know,” she says. “You’re usually the one with the plan.”

Cass laughs.

“Okay,” they say, “Just give me a minute to think.”


	5. Cass

The last thing Cass remembered of Nacre was the glow of the distant towers as the ship pulled away to sea, sails spread wide in the wind. It was the first time they’d ever left the city; they’d thought for sure it would be the last.

But here they are. Funny how things turn out sometimes, right?

They’re alone, now, in the cell, faint moonlight filtering in through a window. The others should be here soon. Assuming Aria keeps her word—but she will. They know she will.

They didn’t expect to wind up here again. Though if they’re being honest, maybe some part of them did. Some part of them kept expecting their time to run out. Surely sooner or later someone from Nacre would recognize them, someone would find them. They couldn’t keep running forever. This place and its history—it’s a part of them.

But it’s not all of them, not anymore. And they can’t stay, as much as the thought of leaving again (the spires of the city, disappearing into the distance as the ship sails away) threatens to tear at something deep within them.

Outside, the sky darkens towards night.

Cass flinches in surprise at the sound of the door creaking open.

And there is Aria, looking at Cass with a soft sadness in her gaze, and there is the guard, explaining that she has a maximum of an hour.

Aria and Cass make eye contact. Now is the moment.

Aria draws her sword and slashes at the guard a single motion. They let out a shout as they fall to the floor—dead or simply dazed, Cass doesn’t know, and doesn’t have time to worry about—and Aria tosses Cass the same spare sword she’d brought with her the last time. (The last time, when she… But it doesn’t matter now.)

Because maybe they can fight their way out, after all. Maybe they have to try.

And you know what, maybe it’s doomed from the start, and maybe Cass should have told Aria to just leave and never come back, but it’s too late. If there was a point when Aria and Mako and AuDy could have turned around, they’ve long since past it. So maybe it’s selfish, but if Cass is going to die here anyways, they’re going to make damn sure they go down fighting.

There aren’t that many more guards; the spire is designed to be left alone and locked. Getting the door to the cell open without arousing suspicion was half the battle, so now it’s just Cass and Aria racing towards the ground floor. If everything is going according to plan, Mako should have the guards at the ground entrance dealt with or distracted by now, and everything should be fine.

If.

When Cass and Aria spill out of the tower into the cool air of Nacre’s night, there are no guards in sight. Neither is there any sign of Mako.

Cass glances towards Aria, but her expression is as worried as they feel.

“Mako?” they call, risking the noise on the off-chance that he’s nearby after all, unseen. But there is no response. Their voice drifts, unanswered, through the street. The sky overhead is dark and clouded, and most of the city is asleep, and Cass so close to a return to their version of normalcy, and so far at the same time.

Aria stares out into the empty street a moment and then says, “Maybe he followed me in?” She doesn’t sound like she really believes it. But it’s not impossible; if he was invisible, or something, they could easily have missed him, or he could have taken a wrong turn, or…

“I’ll go check,” Cass says.

She looks towards them. “I’m not sure splitting up again is the best idea?”

“It’ll be fine.” But even if it isn’t, Cass hopes Aria has enough common sense to realize that if things go bad, she can just leave. They won’t blame her.

“I… Okay. I’m going to look around this area.” She pauses, hesitating on the edge of starting away. “Stay safe, okay?”

“You too.”

She nods, and Cass turns before she can say anything else.

They start back into the building, reversing their progress. Each step takes them farther away from that promise of escape. They don’t see or hear any sign of Mako.

They start back down.

It should feel less terrible, to be moving _away_ again. But if anything, they feel worse, a tight bundle of dread growing in their stomach.

Footsteps, ahead of them.

“Mako?” Cass calls, and realizes how stupid that is only after the name has left their mouth.

A figure rounds the bend of the staircase, and there is Euanthe, looking at Cass with wide eyes.

They’re right there. Here, in Nacre, in _front_ of them, and that shouldn’t be surprising, Cass knows they’re Apokine now, that they’re the one responsible for Cass’ whole situation.

Fuck, though, it’s been _years_. And there’s their older sibling, standing there, silent, as if they aren’t responsible for the absolute wreck that has been Cass’ life (that isn’t fair or true, Cass wouldn’t trade these last couple years with Mako and Aria for the world, but old anger drifts through Cass’ mind regardless at the sight of them).

The silence stretches on a while longer, the two of them staring at one other. Cass isn’t about to be the one to break it.

“What are you doing out and about?” Euanthe asks, their tone way more casual than it has any real right to be.

“I…” Cass begins, doesn’t know how to finish the sentence. “Take a guess.”

Euanthe nods. They take a deep breath. “Are you alright?”

“What?”

“Are you alright?”

“No?” Cass says. “Not—I would not say my current situation is ideal, no.”

They smile. “Fair enough.”

Cass stares at the space between Euanthe and the wall. Can they make a break for it, if they need to? How far could they get before they got caught?

Their gaze lingers, though, on Euanthe themself.

“What are you doing?” Cass says. “What is this?” Euanthe is acting like they’re old friends who just happened to run into one another on the street, and not… What they are. Not a pair of siblings where one is willing to have the other exiled or executed for political gain.

“I was coming to speak with you anyways,” Euanthe says. “I see no reason I can’t do that here, instead.” Cass can see plenty of reasons, but, fine, whatever.

“What did you want to say?” Cass says. They need to get out of here. They can’t stand around talking, even if they wanted to; Aria will start to wonder where they are soon.

They do still have this sword.

“Cassander...” Euanthe says. That name again. The one they haven’t been called in so, so long, not out loud.

“Euanthe,” Cass says, as if that can possibly hold the same weight.

“Listen,” Euanthe says, and then lets that word sit for a long moment. They are both standing on this stairway, Euanthe looking up at them. Cass’ hand rests on their weapon, at their side; they don’t know if Euanthe sees it. “I didn’t mean for things to go like this,” Euanthe says, their voice strained. “But there are _rules_ , Cassander, there are—“

“How exactly did you mean for this to go?” There’s anger in their voice when they speak. They can tell, because it’s an anger that’s been building, unspoken, for _years_.

Euanthe shakes their head and doesn’t answer.

Cass watches their expression. There’s real pain on their face, Cass thinks. Maybe they’re being sincere. Whatever that’s worth.

“You should run,” Euanthe says.

Cass blinks. “What?”

“You should leave,” they say. “Now, before I change my mind. If you can get out on your own, then you should.”

“You’re—what, you’re just going to let me go?” They release their grip on the hilt of their sword.

“You don’t want anything to do with Nacre anymore, right? So leave.”

Hearing it put like that—is it true, really? If Cass was given the choice between a potential life back in Nacre and the life the life they’ve built in Velas, which would they choose?

But it doesn’t matter, because that’s not the choice they’re being given. This is a choice between Velas and death, and that’s an easy choice to make. (They tell themself this is the only reason. They tell themself that they’ll try again, someday, to be the thing that Nacre needs. But not today.)

“I have my own interests,” Euanthe continues, “I have the interests of Nacre to attend to, and… The point is, so long as you;re not going to interfere with anything else, the last thing I want is to kill you.”

Cass still isn’t sure if they believe them, but they decide it doesn’t matter. They’ll still take Euanthe’s guilt over their self-righteousness, any day.

Euanthe moves to lets them pass. So they do. They walk the rest of the way to the exit, their footsteps echoing through the nearly-empty building.

And then they’re outside.

Aria is not there. Neither is Mako.

Cass hesitates, a moment, standing there. They want to go after Aria, but if Aria returns to find _them_ not there they’ll just make a whole mess of it.

They decide to wait, just a little while, and hope for the best.

A faint, cold wind rushes in off the sea. A faint noise in the distance makes them flinch in surprise, but nothing comes. There’s no one here. They’re fine. If the cold is the worst thing Nacre can do to them, then they’re doing well. They just have to make it through this moment, and then this one, and then this one, and then this one, and hope.

They’re incredibly exposed, just standing here. They—

The sound of footsteps, close behind them, and Cass whirls around, adrenaline turning fear to energy as they look for the source of the noise.

Aria gives a sigh of relief. “Cass,” she says. “Did you find Mako?”

Cass forces themself to take a deep breath. “No.”

“Shit,” Aria says, which just about sums it up.

“He knows the plan,” Cass hears themself say, “we should keep moving.”

They consider telling her about their encounter with Euanthe. They will, later, they decide, but right now… It’s too much.

And besides. Euanthe might feel guilty about Cass, but they’re suddenly filled with certainty that a couple of strangers from Velas would be a different story. Cass, executed, becomes a martyr; Aria, on the other hand…

“Alright,” Aria says. “Let’s go. This way.”

And then she’s leading them down the street—towards the docks, Cass notes. Presumably to wherever their ship is.

Cass can see the ocean, on the horizon, past the winding streets and houses and factory buildings. Somehow still as far away as ever. The two of them keep a steady pace, creeping towards it.

Then Aria takes another turn, and Cass stops. “Where are you going?” Still trying to keep their voice low, for whatever good that can be when the sound of their feet on the cobblestones has to be loud enough to wake everyone in the vicinity.

“To the docks,” Aria says, stopping to turn back towards them. “Our ship’s too far away to get to, but Jacqui thinks she can get a Nacre ship for us—“

“Jacqui—?” Cass starts to ask, because the last time they saw Jacqui Green was when she was helping drag them back to Nacre as a prisoner, then shakes their head. “No, I mean, that’s not the fastest way to the port. If we continue on _this_ street, we’ll come to an alleyway that goes in the right direction.” Which will be both faster and less likely to attract attention.

“Oh,” Aria says. “Right. Okay. Maybe you should lead the way?”

So they do. They continue slowly, through the streets, through that alley, trying to keep the sound of their passage to a minimum. They must succeed at least a little, because for a while, they don’t seem to be drawing any attention.

Then, behind them, the sound of a door opening, the scuffle of footsteps, the sound of voices. Cass doesn’t take the time to look back.

“Run,” they tell Aria, and then they do. They’re running through the streets of Nacre, feet clattering on the hard ground; they can hear Aria beside them, keeping pace, but they’re not really paying her much attention. They’re racing through the streets of Nacre, and it’s almost like they’re a kid again, being here, every twist and turn familiar.

They remember one night, when they were younger, when Sokrates snuck them out of the palace, and the two of them just had full reign of the city—not as a kingdom, for once, but just as a place, the familiar space suddenly so much bigger and stranger and more magical. (They realize the irony of this now, of just how magical a place Nacre seems to someone who isn’t from there. At the time they couldn’t even begin to understand that.)

They remember another night, when they were younger.

They were awoken by shouting.

They made their way down the hall, and, in the room at its end, found Euanthe; shouting at Sokrates, who wasn’t even meeting their eyes, who was still holding a blade, dripping with blood.

They’d actually done it. Cass hadn’t believed them when they’d told them. Or they had, and hadn’t wanted to admit it to themself. Hadn’t wanted to confront that Sokrates’ big talk about moral government could have anything to do with the concrete reality where—

Where Cass’ sibling was standing over their parent’s body.

Euanthe was shouting (“How _could_ you?”) and then in an instant Sokrates was shouting, too (“How do you still not _get_ it?”) and neither of them had noticed Cass, yet, standing in the doorway.

Euanthe lunged for Sokrates’ sword, and Cass sprang forward, grabbed Euanthe’s shoulder, pulling them back, reacting before they really had a chance to think about it. Euanthe whirled around, breathing hard, and froze when they made eye contact with Cass.

“What are you doing?” Euanthe hissed.

Cass stammered something out—later, they couldn’t tell you what they’d said for the life of them. They released their grip on Euanthe. They didn’t go after Sokrates or their weapon again, not right away.

Cass’ gaze drifted until they met eyes with Sokrates, who stared, did nothing.

“You should run,” Cass said, the words heavy, the words like lead in their mouth.

“What? No. Come on, if I leave now—“

“Unless you think you can win whatever civil war it is you’re about to start? I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in trying to figure that out.”

“Don’t you think I could?”

Cass blinked. (Euanthe, still beside them, glowered.) “Can you?”

“I don’t know,” Sokrates said, “but—it doesn’t have to come to that. Euanthe, I know this is—I mean, it’s far from ideal, but we have a real chance here to turn Nacre into something better than what it is. Something that can be an example for all of Hieron—“

“We were going to do that,” Euanthe said. “All of us, our _parent_ was going to—“

“Was going to _conquer_.”

“Sokrates,” Cass said again. “You should go.”

Sokrates looked at them. “I thought you, at least, were on my side, Cass.”

“I am,” Cass says. They hate this. They hate every inch of this moment, every word coming out of their mouth, what are they _doing_ , when did this become their life? “And that’s why I want you to be safe.”

That was the last thing Cass had said to them.

They stayed with Euanthe, after Sokrates left. Stayed with them as they called the guards to come help with the body, as they fought off tears, as they asked in whispered tones, “What am I going to _do_ , Cassander?”

And then, in the morning, Euanthe brought them before they city and named them a traitor.

After all, they’d helped the killer escape. After all, they’d known what they were planning and said nothing. (After all, Euanthe told Cass later, in private, there weren’t the only ones at the palace last night. People were going to find out one way or another. It’d be easier for everyone—would make the transition of power smoother—if Cass just disappeared for a while.)

So Cass ran, too.

They’re running now, cool ocean breeze rushing past them, Aria beside them, no sign of any real pursuit behind them yet. They got lucky.

But Mako is still nowhere to be seen. Neither is AuDy, who was supposed to meet them partway to the docks, holding the path for them to get out. And as they get closer and closer to their destination, Cass is filled with a sinking certainty that something has gone wrong.

They make it to the meeting point. There’s no one there.

Cass slows to a stop and looks around the vacant city square.

“We have to turn around again,” they say.

Aria nods, beside them, her gaze flitting around the space. Her silence stretches. “You go,” she says, finally. “Someone needs to stay here, in case either of them do show up.”

“Okay,” Cass says, watching her expression. They hesitate. The two of them are splitting up _yet again_. “You’ll be alright?”

She looks at them. “I’ll be fine,” she says. “Now go.”

Cass goes.

It’s not just a matter of retracing their steps back to where they were being held; if AuDy or Mako were anywhere along that route, they would have run into them already. No, it’s a matter of the same thing that got them here this quickly: they know this city, and they know which big avenues they were avoiding that might be the exact ones that the royal guard might use if they were trying to bring in a prisoner. Like, say, if they had caught one of the allies of Cassander the Abetter trying to help break them out.

Cass has never been more glad to catch sight of the uniform of the city guard. They can see a group of them approaching from around, and Cass stops, sticks to the side of the street, and waits as they approaches—five guards, along with Mako _and_ AuDy, the former of whom complains loudly the entire way.

So something went wrong. They got caught. Cass was right about Euanthe’s half-pardon not extending to their friends.

Cass only has an instant to react here; the guards will spot them before too long.

They shout their friends’ names, hope the recognition will be enough to get them alert and ready, and then dive forward, weapon drawn.

One of the guards unsheathes a sword of their own and within seconds Cass is locked in melée. Out of the corner of their eye they can see the surprise writ on Mako’s face; then he disappears.

They don’t need to win this fight. They only need to cause enough of a distraction that the three of them can get away.

Cass steps backwards, trying to get a better view of the scene—where’s AuDy? There—coming their way, pushing past the guards with force. And then AuDy is right by them, and Cass moves backwards again, steps uneven but quick, and breaks away from the fight. AuDy’s heavy stone footfalls echo behind them, and Mako’s, too, and then they’re running, all three of them.

“What are you doing here?” Mako says, visible again, as they run.

“I came to rescue you,” Cass says, trying to focus their attention on the road ahead of them. “I really would’ve thought that was obvious.”

“We had it under control,” Mako says, and Cass can’t be bothered to give him a _Sure you did_ but they’re pretty sure it’s implied.

They move quickly—not quickly enough, Cass thinks, but they’re gaining ground. They take the route back to where Cass left Aria, and her eyes light up as she catches sight of them, and they’re they’re on the move again, all four of them, now.

They just might make it. For the first time since they returned to Nacre, Cass really believes that, really thinks that maybe their story doesn’t end here.

Up ahead, now: the docks, the ocean, the silhouette of a familiar ship. Jacqui shouts something from its bow, waves at them (out of the corner of their eye, Cass sees Aria hiding a smile).

There’s still room for this to go wrong, Cass thinks, as they close that final distance, as they scramble aboard. Surely now is when their lucky streak finally ends.

But it doesn’t.

Cass, and Aria, and Mako, and AuDy board the _Kingdom Come_. Dawn begins to creep across the sky, and the group of them together leave Nacre behind. This time, Cass doesn’t look back.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm confusedbluesky on tumblr & twitter if you want to come shout about fatt with me


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